Carbon-based antiviral nanomaterials: graphene, C-dots, and fullerenes. A perspective

Abstract

<p>The appearance of new and lethal viruses and their potential threat urgently requires innovative antiviral systems.</p>

Graphene biosensors for bacterial and viral pathogens

“…Molecular dynamics simulations were also utilized to explore the interactions between graphene and the Ebola virus protein VP40, showing that the graphene sheets could recognize and destroy the hydrophobic protein-protein interactions in VP40 ( Pokhrel et al, 2017 ). In addition to their direct action on viruses, GO can improve their ability to inhibit viral activity by self-assembling AgNPs ( Du et al, 2018 ) or by mimicking cell surface receptors through surface functionalization ( Donskyi et al, 2019 ; Innocenzi and Stagi, 2020 ; Yang et al, 2017 ). Although the current level of knowledge is not sufficient to directly apply graphene to antiviral applications, it is anticipated that graphene will play an important role in the global fight against COVID-19 by being used in medical devices, personal protective equipment or mask coatings to minimize the risk of transmission ( Palmieri and Papi, 2020 ).…”

Smart materials-integrated sensor technologies for COVID-19 diagnosis

“…However, their mechanical strength and stability are low. On the contrary, carbon-based nanomaterials provide mechanically strong and flexible, electrically and thermally conductive assets in addition to biocompatibility and antiviral properties [ 20 , 63 ]. Considering electroanalytical performance and immobilization of recognition elements, current biosensor platforms mostly integrates diverse nanomaterials [ 65 , 66 ] stemmed from carbonaceous materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes [ 67 ], graphene [ 68 – 71 ], carbon nanoparticles [ 72 ]), inorganic materials (e.g., magnetic and metal nanoparticles [ 73 ]), organic nanoparticles (e.g., dendrimers [ 74 ]) conductive and insulating polymers (e.g., nanosized and nanostructured polymers or molecularly imprinted polymers [ 75 ]), and hybrid materials (e.g., hydrogel [ 76 ]).…”

Exploring the Potential of Carbon Dots to Combat COVID-19

“…Nanotechnology has tremendous potential in different areas to fight against COVID-19, which include diagnosis, prevention as well as treatment. The application of nanotechnology in antiviral therapy is still in its early stages (Borah et al, 2020;Chen and Liang, 2020;Innocenzi and Stagi, 2020;Palmieri and Papi, 2020). Constant emergences of novel viruses are challenging and need more attention in research on nanotechnology-based targeted antiviral therapy.…”

“…A recent review by Basak et al, also gives the potential of carbon dots against viral infections briefly along with some other potential nanomaterials (Basak and Packirisamy, 2020). A large number of reviews are published recently mentioning the potential and possibilities of nanomaterials to fight against corona virus (Innocenzi and Stagi, 2020;Manivannan and Ponnuchamy, 2020;Mukherjee et al, 2020;Nair et al, 2020). But our review focus on the possibility of carbon dots and also functionalized or doped carbon dots against viral infection with special emphasis to corona virus.…”